Pacific Crest Trail — Northern California (Donner Pass–Oregon Border)

On the networks TrailSim sells for the Northern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail, 24% of the route's 855 km has fast 4G/5G data and a further 20% has weak 4G signal only; 50 modelled dead zones totalling 378 km have no signal on its networks. Cell service depends on which networks your eSIM roams on: the plans on TrailSim's Northern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail page are compared against exactly this route, and every dead zone is named and pinned with GPS coordinates in the coverage report included with each eSIM.

Pacific Crest Trail — Northern California (Donner Pass–Oregon Border) typically takes about 29 days — around 15 GB at 500 MB a day, and the featured plan is picked on exactly that arithmetic. Worldwide, everyday smartphone use averages about 22 GB a month — roughly 730 MB a day — most of it video streaming (Ericsson Mobility Report, Nov 2025). On the trail the picture is lighter: with maps downloaded and video saved for wifi, messaging, photos, weather and bookings run 200–400 MB a day, so we size every recommendation at 500 MB a day for comfortable headroom. Size up if you stream, video-call or share your connection. If you would rather pay only for the days you are out, TrailSim's pay-by-the-day plans for the Northern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail give a full-speed daily allowance that slows down instead of cutting off, with the number of days set on the payment page.

A daily allowance of 300 MB to 1.5 GB at full speed, then slower for the rest of that day — never cut off. It is priced per day: you set the number of days (1 to 90) on the payment page, pre-filled with the typical Northern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail trip length, and the days start on first use. It suits short trips and people who would rather never run out than carry a large fixed plan; the fixed plans on the same page are cheaper per gigabyte for a long trip.

On first use — installing the TrailSim eSIM and connecting starts the clock, not the purchase date. You can safely buy weeks before your trip.

Most phones released since 2019 support eSIM, including iPhone XS and later, Google Pixel 3 and later, and most recent Samsung Galaxy models. Your phone must also be carrier-unlocked.

Any eSIM connects to the same physical networks. What TrailSim adds is the route check: it compares the carriers' own coverage filings along the Northern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail itself, picks the network combination that holds best there, and includes the coverage report with every dead zone mapped — so you know before you go where the phone will and won't work. A longer comparison is at trailsim.com/compare/airalo and /compare/holafly.

On most wild routes some stretches have no signal from any network — no eSIM can change that. TrailSim's Northern California section of the Pacific Crest Trail coverage report marks every dead zone with GPS coordinates and length, so you can download offline maps for those sections and tell people at home when you'll be unreachable. Knowing where it drops is the point.

Uninstalled eSIMs qualify for a full self-service refund within 14 days of purchase — no questions asked. Once the eSIM is installed on a device it can no longer be returned. See the refund policy.